Land of the Free

Jeff Speakman plays a campaign manager for would-be senator William Shatner who finds out that Shatner wants to take over America with the help of militias. This is a lesser PM Entertainment film that concentrates on being a kindler, gentle action film. With the inclusion of a wife and kid amidst all the on-the-run action, it's obvious that this film is pandering to many varying demographics. It slows down the pace and adds only bad melodrama.

Even the action scenes aren't as good as some other PM releases. William Shatner isn't even allowed to ham it up. It's not bad, but, it ain't good.

While William Shatner's performance was the best part of the movie, the rest of the acting by every single every other person in this movie is just awful. The music is one of the worst scores I have ever heard, and the car chases are just non-stop and totally unrealistic. On the plus side, the hand-to-hand action scenes are actually entertaining. If you feel like watching a movie that really defines 'B-movie,' this is it.

PM Entertainment made some good action movies, but this isn't one of them. It does have its trademark high production values (for direct-to-video movies), and it has a few good stunts. The rest of the movie is pretty poor. The acting is terrible - Shatner hams it up, and Speakman isn't much better. The action sequences are poorly directed - the martial arts become a jumble of fast-moving limbs, and the driving sequences frequently use slow-motion that make them as exciting as pouring molasses out of a jar. The rest of the movie is just as slow-moving, and it seems to take forever to end. And you would swear that the movie's music composer wasn't watching the movie he scored, because he always uses the same somber-sounding military music, even during the action sequences! If you want to see a good movie from PM Entertainment, try RAGE, LAST MAN STANDING, EXECUTIVE TARGET, or THE SWEEPER instead.

This seems to be a parody of a parody. The overly-patriotic music (the composer will probably claim "West Wing" was inspired by his score) and the action scenes are especially bad. Each involves every single person who tries to kill Jeff and his wife and annoying kid being incredibly stupid, slow-footed, and a lousy shot. There was one moment early on when Jeff Speakman is karate-chopping a security guard in slow-motion, and I wondered why it seemed so familiar. Then I remembered the karate moves of the old "Double Dragon" NES game series, from 10 years ago. The only difference was that those games had more believable characters and plotting.

How sad to see talented actors like Chris Robinson and Chris Lemmon stuck in the middle of this latrine. If you ever wanted to see Mac from "Night Court" (Robinson) punch someone in the gut, then this is the movie for you. The best laugh of the film.

Watch only if you want to laugh, or learn how *not* to make a film.

Was this filmed in 1977 or 1997??? I never have seen so many heaps get trashed at one time! And where were the police? Maybe just one siren? They must have been packin' donuts and the fireman were playing checkers at the firehouse. The movies started out good then it turned into where they were chasing this turncoat against William Shatner's movement all around the countryside. I did not expect the movie to go in that direction. Oh well.....